Исламски Heartland

After the West and the USA reached the peak in global hegemony in relatively short time during unipolar period, there was a decline in their relative power. The emerging of new powers and their global ambitions require a reconsideration of the theoretical and conceptual as well as practical geopolitical paradigms. In that context, the importance of Eurasia did become even more significant, however, today „main geopolitical prize“ is the whole world. Accordingly, the central region or „Pivot area“ has shifted outside the Eurasian continental interior, while the Heartland-Rimland model has still been used, but in changed territorial, civilizational and geopolitical coordinates. Since the geopolitical capacity of the „awakened Islam“ has increased, the space of North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia is becoming a new global geopolitical center – the Islamic Heartland. This region occupies huge territory, it has a demographic potential as well as potential in energy resources, several important civilization centers and key geostrategic points are under its control and expansive mass migration and movements of fanaticized warriors (jihadists, terrorists) set off form there. Islamic Heartland is considered by the „rest of the world“, especially from the great powers (US, China, Russia, India, EU) as a threat. Although being strongly opposed to each other, a common interest to encircle and „contain“ it, will bring them together in a geopolitical block – the Global Rimland. The region within the Global Rimland, that is most threatened by the expansion of the Islamic Heartland is the Balkans.